Sorting Your Future

Get started on finding out what you might want to do

Deciding what career you would like to do when you finish school is a difficult choice to make. It is important to remember that very few students at the end of school actually know exactly what they want to do. So, don’t worry if you don’t have a clue – you are not on your own.

Let’s get started on some thinking about your future career.

First up, let’s have a look at you.

What are your interests? What school-work do you like? Do you follow the news/newspapers? Play lots of video games? Watch films? Play sport? Help people? Like exploring new places?

When do you feel good about yourself? When you win a game? When you offer help others out? When you perform in front of people? When you solve difficult problems?

Do you feel like you want to keep studying? Do you want so study with mates, or will you go where the course will take you? Would you rather start earning money now? Do you want to work inside or outside? Or do you want to have a look about and maybe a think about things for a bit longer?

When you answer these questions (and many other that will come up), it’s not likely that a career will start flashing up in front of you. However you are likely to get an idea of what sort of role you may like.

For example, enjoying sports doesn’t mean that you are going to be a professional footballer or athlete, but means that you could find sport journalism interesting, or you might be right for sports management.

Similarly, if you enjoy travelling to new places, that doesn’t mean the only option for you is to be an explorer; in this case, jobs in business, journalism, or even teaching can all involve travelling.

Be open to changing your ideas

No one will ever have a job that they absolutely love every day of the year, but it is possible to have a career that you enjoy most of the time.

Also, be open to change – if you have had your heart set on a specific career since you were five then that’s great, but if you begin to have second thoughts (at any point in your life) then that’s OK too.

Finally, don’t aim for a career that will only please other people; it is your career and your life so aim for something that you would actually like to wake up to do in the morning.